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Floodwaters force 100s to evacuate NE Iowa town

NEW HARTFORD, Iowa (AP) — The northeast Iowa town of New Hartford was mostly deserted Tuesday after authorities went door-to-door before dawn, warning residents a flooded stream would inundate most of the small community.

"Everybody was notified and told to evacuate," said Butler County emergency management coordinator Mitch Nordmeyer as he surveyed the town, about 90 miles northeast of Des Moines. "If they stayed they were staying at their own risk."

Although most of New Hartford's 500-plus residents heeded warnings and left town, some stayed behind and there was no sense of panic.

Residents had seen the normally placid Beaver Creek flood before. And after some areas upstream received more than 7 inches of rain on Monday, few seemed surprised the stream was surging out of its banks again.

Jim Johnson, 49, rowed down Main Street just before noon. He's lived in town since the 1960s and said he's been through it before.

"I have about 8 inches of water in my basement," he said after getting out of the flat-bottom aluminum boat and tying it to a small tree.

He said a flood in 2008 was worse. That one flooded his home with about 4 feet of water.

"I've got this boat and another one with a motor," he said. "I usually stay until everything is lost."

But Johnson and authorities said most people had left, especially elderly people and residents with young children.

Residents were notified via a telephone emergency system on Monday about the danger, and an evacuation order came early Tuesday.

Up to 50 emergency services workers, sheriff's deputies and firefighters began to help townspeople flee at 3 a.m., before the water got too high and when boats and high-centered vehicles would have been required for rescues. Nordmeyer estimated about a third of the town's residents remained, but the town was largely silent by afternoon.

"Pretty much everyone who wants out is out, at this point," Nordmeyer said, adding that a sandbagged road to the north presented the only remaining route out of town. An emergency shelter was set up six miles away in Shell Rock.

Sue Ragsdale, 60, said she evacuated her home in the early hours but returned later in the day. She found a flooded barn but a dry home.

"I've seen it a lot worse," she said.

Nordmeyer estimated that the water was already 3 feet deep on the east side of town, and said floodwaters were pouring into the west side of town as well. The creek has topped a levy that surrounds the town on the east side near the elementary school, Nordmeyer said. He also suspected a breach had occurred Tuesday morning on a gravel road about three miles west of town that works as a makeshift levy. Officials couldn't get there to confirm his suspicions, he said.

Beaver Creek rose 3 feet above flood stage and crested at 15.15 feet by 7:45 a.m. Tuesday. The National Weather Service said most of New Hartford floods when the creek rises to 14 feet. The weather service said the creek was at 14.8 feet as of noon Tuesday and the water continues to recede. It is expected to return to the creek by Wednesday evening.

The crest is about half a foot short of the record of 15.7 feet set in June 2008, and it is two feet higher than when the creek caused flooding last month.

The rest of Butler County is under a flash flood watch until Wednesday morning. The weather service said New Hartford is along a path in northern Iowa that may experience showers and thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon into the overnight hours. Meteorologist Kevin Skow said between 2 and 3 inches of rain could fall per hour from the systems moving through the area.

Any rain that falls over the town will flow back into Beaver Creek because the ground is saturated, said Skow, resulting in standing water possibly staying around for a bit longer than expected.

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Obama takes on power plants as part of new climate plan

By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama tried to revive his stalled climate change agenda on Tuesday, promising new rules to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants and other domestic actions including support for renewable energy.

Obama also signaled he would block construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada if it contributed to climate change. That does not mean the project is doomed, however. A State Department report, which Obama could reference, has said the pipeline would not change the outlook for carbon emissions because the development of Canada's oil sands would continue whether it is approved or not.

Canada weighed in on Obama's remarks, saying it did not think there would be a net increase in carbon emissions if the proposed pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to Texas is built, according to the country's natural resources minister.

Obama's long-awaited climate plan, detailed in a speech at Georgetown University, drew criticism from the coal industry, which would be hit hard by carbon limits, and Republicans, who accused the Democratic president of advancing policies that harm the economy and kill jobs. Environmentalists largely cheered the proposals, though some said the moves did not go far enough.

Obama's first-term attempt to reduce climate-warming carbon emissions in a "cap and trade" system was thwarted by Congress, and his administration's long process of studying whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline has raised hackles from business groups and Republican critics.

With Congress unlikely to pass climate legislation, Obama said his administration would set rules using its executive authority.

"We limit the amount of toxic chemicals like mercury and sulfur and arsenic in our air or our water, but power plants can still dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air for free," Obama said.

"That's not right. That's not safe. And it needs to stop."

Obama said he had directed the Environmental Protection Agency to craft new emissions rules for thousands of power plants, the bulk of which burn coal and which account for roughly one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Share prices for major U.S. coal mining companies stabilized on Tuesday after tumbling on Monday, in some cases to multi-year lows, in anticipation of the White House plan.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE SIGNAL?

Environmental activists welcomed Obama's speech, while Republicans raised economic concerns.

"It's tantamount to kicking the ladder out from beneath the feet of many Americans struggling in today's economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who planned to talk to Obama about his concerns at a meeting at the White House.

The president's unexpected comments on TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL pipeline drew a mixed response as well.

A decision to approve or reject the pipeline is expected later this year or in early 2014.

"Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution," Obama said. "The net effects of the pipeline's impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward," he said.

Keystone XL supporters and foes heard what they wanted in Obama's remarks.

"Based on the lengthy review by the State Department, construction of the pipeline would not have a significant environmental impact," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner. "It's time to sign off on Keystone and put Americans to work."

Bill McKibben, a leading activist against the project, said Obama had set an appropriate standard with his remarks and called that "encouraging news," while environmentalist Tom Steyer hailed "the Keystone death knell."

Some observers have worried that a strong push for new climate change measures would be used by the White House to offset an eventual approval of the controversial pipeline.

In its draft environmental impact study in March the State Department found that the project would not have an impact on climate because the oil sands from which the oil would be extracted would make it to market whether or not the pipeline was approved. The EPA has questioned that finding, and the two agencies will need to come to an agreement before the final report is sent to Obama for his decision.

COURT CHALLENGES AHEAD

The pipeline aside, Obama's administration faces a long fight over his power plant proposals. The EPA is routinely challenged in court, both by industry groups seeking to quash rules and by green groups trying to push the agency to set tougher standards. Attorneys general from four coal-dependent states made it clear that they would fight back against "overreaching regulations."

The new rules on existing power plants, which Obama wants finalized by June 2015, could be tied up in court for years.

"Challenges defining standards for existing power plants mean that delays are likely, exacerbating uncertainties for utilities attempting compliance with other power plant regulations," said research firm Eurasia Group in a note.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, the No. 2 U.S. coal mining state after Wyoming, said Obama had "declared a war on coal," and the industry said the rules threatened its viability.

"If the Obama administration fails to recognize the environmental progress the industry has made and continues to adopt more regulations, coal power could cease to exist, which would be devastating for our economy," said Mike Duncan, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

Ann Carlson, faculty director of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA, was unimpressed.

"All Obama has done is tell his Environmental Protection Agency to issue rules that are already required under the terms of a settlement EPA entered into after being sued for missing deadlines," Carlson wrote in a blog post.

Obama's allies abroad were watching closely. The president said Washington would lead the world in talks to fight climate change and reiterated his pledge to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

The European Union said it wanted more than words:

"Internationally, the White House plan contains a number of good intentions which have now to be translated into more concrete action," said EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Valerie Volcovici, Mark Felsenthal, Timothy Gardner, Richard Cowan and Alister Doyle; Editing by Ros Krasny and Leslie Gevirtz)

Article: Factbox - Highlights of Obama's plan to cut carbon pollution

Haunting photos and unexpected support for defense on Day 2 of Zimmerman trial

SANFORD, Fla.—The photos were as unforgettable as they were haunting: Trayvon Martin’s dead body, sprawled out in wet grass; the 17-year-old’s Nike shirt, pierced with a bullet hole; his limp wrist; his chest; and his face, slack.

The second day of the murder trial of George Zimmerman brought forth those photos and other powerful pieces of evidence, including the clothes Zimmerman was wearing and the gun he carried on the night he fatally shot Martin in February 2012. There was also a display of the now-iconic hoodie Martin wore on the night he died.

Zimmerman looked at the images without a strong reaction, though with more focus than he showed during opening arguments. Martin’s parents turned away, looked down and eventually left the courtroom as the photos of their son were shown to the jury.

The litany of graphic evidence, paired with the testimony of the Sanford police officer who described his efforts to save Martin, brought the trial to an early emotional crescendo. The 14-year veteran of the department, Anthony Raimondo Jr., gave sober detail of the bubbling sound coming from Martin’s lungs as he tried to administer CPR. He eventually placed a blanket over Martin that was too small, leaving his lower legs and feet exposed in another poignant crime scene photograph.

Emotionally, the significance of the photos is unmistakable and resonant. Legally, the most important turn in the second day of proceedings might have been something far more mundane: In the morning session, before the crime scene photos were shown, a neighborhood watch supervisor with the Sanford police department was called to the stand by the prosecution—and emerged as a key witness for the defense.

Wendy Dorival, who trained Zimmerman in his duties as the watch representative for his gated community, described him as “a little meek” and someone who wanted to “make changes in his community to make it better.”

Although a PowerPoint slide as part of Dorival’s orientation presentation declared citizens are “NOT the vigilante police,” she told defense attorney Don West that seeing an unknown or suspicious person walking around in the rain or on a pathway not meant for walking would be grounds for calling the police department’s nonemergency number. That testimony could assist the defense in painting Zimmerman as someone who was simply carrying out his neighborhood watch duties rather than hunting down an unarmed teenager.

The defense’s case was further strengthened by testimony that there had been burglaries in Zimmerman’s community, including one in which a home was entered while a mother of a small child was upstairs. “She was alone,” Dorival said. “It was terrifying for her. She was still shaken up by it. It seemed very fresh to her.”

Dorival testified that residents who had an issue “were directed to call Mr. Zimmerman.”

Perhaps just as significantly, Dorival came to Zimmerman with the idea of assuming greater duty in community policing. Asked why, Dorival said it was because of Zimmerman’s “demeanor” and “his high interest in being part of a Sanford community.”

The prosecution will continue to argue that Zimmerman went against protocol by leaving his car after he saw Martin rather than waiting for police to arrive.

“Let law enforcement take the risk of approaching the suspect,” Dorival said.

And the defense got some help from the 911 dispatcher who took Zimmerman’s call, who testified on Monday that his foul language didn’t raise any red flags.

What may raise flags with the jury would be the multiple calls Zimmerman made in the weeks and months leading up to Martin’s death. Several were played in the courtroom without the jury present in the prosecution’s efforts to bring them into testimony. The calls featured Zimmerman mentioning recent break-ins and alerting authorities of African-Americans in the gated community where he lived. The judge has not yet decided if the calls will be permitted.

If they are heard by jurors, defense will argue that they were “good acts” meant to help keep watch over a community that had crime problems. Prosecutors will say the repeated calls reflected anger that climaxed on the fateful February night Martin returned from a local convenience store with Skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea.

The crucial moments between Zimmerman leaving his vehicle and the shooting of Martin will put even more emphasis on the expected testimony of the young woman Martin was speaking with on the phone as the confrontation loomed. She was reported to be scheduled on Tuesday but has not yet taken the witness stand.

Instead, the jury heard from a witness who said she looked out her window on the night of the shooting and saw “arms flailing” and heard yells of “no” and “uhh.” She said it was too dark to identify who was outside her townhouse, but she went to check the stove and heard a gunshot. She then returned to see a body laying in the grass.

The witness also said she saw movement from “left to right,” and the defense grilled her on cross-examination, suggesting that she had never said that before to law enforcement. The “left to right” action is important because that might imply some kind of pursuit.

Zimmerman’s mindset during those moments will have to be shown as something other than the “meek” persona Dorival described. Asked on Tuesday if Zimmerman was “polite, courteous and respectful,” she replied: “Yes, every time.”

Jurors will likely not forget the images of Martin’s body, yet their mental picture of Zimmerman on the night of Martin’s death will weigh far more in the outcome of this trial.

IG: IRS credit cards used for wine, pornography

FILE - In this Monday, June 3, 2013 file photo, Danny Werfel, acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, answers questions from the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on Capitol Hill in Washington. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George is seated at right. Poor oversight by the Internal Revenue Service allowed workers to use agency credit cards to buy wine for an expensive luncheon, dorky swag for managers' meetings and, for one employee, romance novels and diet pills, an agency watchdog said Tuesday, June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Poor oversight by the Internal Revenue Service allowed workers to use agency credit cards to buy wine for an expensive luncheon, dorky swag for managers' meetings and, for one employee, romance novels and diet pills, an agency watchdog said Tuesday.

Two IRS credit cards were used to buy online pornography, though the employees said the cards were stolen. One of the workers reported five agency credit cards lost or stolen.

IRS employees used agency credit cards to make more than 273,000 purchases totaling nearly $108 million in 2010 and 2011, according to the report by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

The vast majority of those purchases were legitimate, the report said. However, the report said the IRS has inadequate controls to prevent inappropriate purchases.

For example, investigators found that one IRS employee spent $2,655 on diet pills, romance novels, steaks, a smartphone and baby-related items, including bottles, games and clothes. The case was referred to the IG's office that investigates employee misconduct, the report said.

Among other "improper" purchases identified by the inspector general:

— $3,152 to rent a popcorn machine and to buy prizes for an employee event, including bandanas, stuffed animals, sunglasses and stovepipe hats.

— $418 for novelty decorations and swag at managers' meetings, including kazoos, bathtub toys and "Thomas the Tank Engine" wristbands.

— $119 for Nerf footballs that were never used and were found stored in a filing cabinet.

"Inadequate procedures to identify, report and address inappropriate use leaves the IRS purchase card program vulnerable to repeated violations of applicable laws and regulations," said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

The report comes as the IRS faces intense scrutiny over agents targeting conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. Documents released Monday show that liberal and progressive groups were singled out, too.

Also, the inspector general released a report earlier this month that detailed lavish spending at employee conferences. In all, the agency spent nearly $50 million on employee conferences from 2010 through 2012.

"Clearly, any inappropriate card use impacts our bottom line and is cause for concern," said actingIRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who took over the agency last month. "Wasteful spending cannot be tolerated, and any employees found to be abusing the system will be held accountable. In fact, we are following up on several inappropriate incidents mentioned in the report, ranging from internal actions to criminal charges."

"That said, more than 99.75 percent of IRS purchases adhered to the rules," Werfel added. "The IRS has made important progress over the past two years in strengthening the controls in our purchase card program. We are committed to protecting taxpayer resources, and we will take quick action to implement all of TIGTA's recommendations."

The new report highlighted a 2010 conference in Washington for tax officials from other countries. At a luncheon, the IRS bought 28 bottles of wine — for 41 guests, the report said. A dinner at the conference cost the agency $140 a person, four times the allowable government rate at the time.

In all, the agency spent more than $50,000 on meals, receptions and meetings at the five-day conference, the report said. Agency credit cards were used for about $12,500 of the purchases.

"It is important to note that the luncheon described in the report took place in 2010 for an international business meeting of tax officials from several of the world's largest countries. This meeting is an important forum for international leaders on major tax issues," Werfel said. "However, given the excessive purchases for the luncheon, I am directing the IRS business units to more closely review spending in advance for any similar events to ensure all spending is appropriate."

The IRS participates in the General Services Administration's SmartPay purchase card program. Under the program, agency employees can use purchase cards, which act like credit cards, to buy work-related items. The maximum amount for an individual purchase is $3,000.

More expensive items are subject to competitive pricing policies.

In 2010 and 2011, internal controls at the IRS found 327 cases in which employees divided their purchases to skirt the $3,000 limit. The inspector general's office found an additional 34 cases. In all, the purchases totaled $493,000, the report said.

The report said 94 employees were responsible for the purchases, including 22 workers who had done it more than once in a six-month period. However, the report said, none of the employees were disciplined.

As for the two IRS employees whose cards were used to buy pornography, the inspector general's report didn't determine who bought the material or whether their cards were actually stolen. One of the employees is no longer at the agency. The IG is continuing to investigate the other employee, the report said.

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